Author: Carrie Hall

Unit 1 Essay

Hi everyone– rough drafts of unit three are due on Tuesday, December 3rd. Remember these are worth two homework assignments. Please post to Open Lab and also bring in a copy to class.

For details on the assignment, please look under “Units.”

Also, please note: you will have time to revise Unit 2 for your final portfolio. We’ll also talk a little more about the conclusion for Unit 2 when we talk about revision– I feel like almost everyone could’ve written some more there.

HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING!

1. You must bring in a rough draft of your “genre how-to–” at least 300 words. PLEASE BRING A PAPER COPY AND POST ON OPEN LAB BEFORE CLASS. This is part of your grade for Unit Three and will also be included in your final portfolio. No Unit Threes will be accepted without a genre how-to.  If you did not do your proposal yet, see #2

What is a genre how-to? Well, if you are writing a political You Tube video, you would write instructions about to make a political YouTube video (or, if you’re making a TED talk, how to make a TED talk– you get the picture.) You need to be kind of specific here– not just “a video,” but “an unboxing video” or “a movie review.” Narrow it down a bit.

It’s okay to look up “How to make a TED talk,” but I also want you to look at at least three examples in your genre and see what YOU notice (not just what some random guy on the internet said about TED talks).

Then write at least 300 words about how to do it– what are the ingredients of the piece of writing you’re trying to make (how does it start? What does it look like? What do you need to make it? What problems might you encounter? How does it end?) This is pretty informal, but it will help you learn about your genre and get unit three done!

2.  Only for those who missed class or didn’t give me proposals: I need a proposal for Unit Three from you. You may post this on line. This needs to be approved by me!  Please answer the following questions:

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. What audience are you trying to reach (that is, who needs to know about the research you did in Unit 2) and WHY?
               2. What genre would be best to reach that audience? A declaration? a standup comedy routine? A TED talk? WHY?
               3.  What are you planning to do for Unit 3– be specific! Not just “an article,” for example, but “an article for a sports magazine like Sports Illustrated.” Not just “a letter,” but “an open letter to Congress.” 

 

Hi everyone! Unit Two is due on Thursday, before Prof. Coughlin’s class!  Look to the handout from today’s class for guidelines on what I’ll be grading you on.

Don’t forget your bibliography! And bring a printed copy to class, so we can review citation.

Good luck!

Hey everyone– rough drafts of Unit Two are due on Tuesday (Intro, Reviews of all four sources and conclusion) PLEASE BRING A PAPER COPY AND POST TO OPEN LAB.

Final draft is due before Prof. Coughlin’s class on Thurs!

What am I going to be looking for?

• INTRO: (short, but hooks the reader and tells us what question you are investigating)

 

• FOUR SEPARATE REPORTS—EACH ON A DIFFERENT SOURCE:  (at least 300 words each. Probably 2-4 paragraphs each. This is an estimate of paragraphs, not a rule!) Each source should tell me:
• What that source IS (who wrote it, what publication it’s in, who the intended audience is)
• What the source’s biases are—remember, having biases doesn’t mean a source isn’t credible, it just means that the writer or publication has opinions. That’s okay, but it’s important to know them!
• If the source is worth listening to—and why or why not?
• What you learned from that source about your question

 

• CONCLUSION—this is where you put your ideas together. What did you learn from your research? What questions do you have for further research—things you want to know more about? How did your opinions change and grow?

 

• Throughout, I will be looking for TEA—Topic/ Evidence/ and Analysis. This isn’t just a formula! Each paragraph should have a topic, or a point. And when you make a point, you need to back that point up with evidence that proves that point. The analysis is the place where you explain the evidence to your reader—why did you chose that evidence? What does it have to do with your research question and the topic of your paragraph?

 

For Thursday, please bring in drafts of reviews of your last two sources for your curiosity report. Please also post them to the Open Lab. We will be doing some peer review with these drafts in class.

When writing these drafts, consider your paragraphs. Remember that you want to have TEA (Topic, Evidence, Analysis) in each of your paragraphs, as we discussed in class!

Remember that a full rough draft (including intro and conclusion) of your Curiosity Report will be due on Nov 12 and the final draft will be due Nov 14. It will look something like this:

Intro (a paragraph or so. Introduces your question.)

Review of source 1 (Tells us what your source has to say about your research question. Tells us what you know about the source itself– should we listen to this source? Why or why not? At least 300 words. Between 2-4 paragraphs.)

Review of source 2 (same guidelines as source 1)

Review of source 3 (same guidelines)

Review of source 4 (same guidelines)

Conclusion (Tells us what you learned in general from your research. What more would you like to know? What conclusions can you draw? Did your thinking change? We will discuss this more in class.)  Between 2-4 paragraphs.